‘Butcher’s Crossing’ Clip: Fred Hechinger & A Menacing Nicolas Cage Find “Sacred Place To Camp” In Respite From Buffalo Hunting Expedition:

Butcher’s Crossing, the forthcoming Western starring Nicolas Cage and The White Lotus‘s Fred Hechinger, has unveiled a new clip. Based on John Williams’ 1960 novel of the same name, the film has been set for release in select theaters via Saban Films on October 20, after world premiering at TIFF 2022.

Directed by Gabe Polsky, it tells the story of Will Andrews (Hechinger), a naive Harvard student who heads west in 1874 to fulfill his dream of seeing the country and living off the land. Will agrees to fund a dangerous but potentially lucrative expedition to Colorado, led by Miller (Cage), an experienced hunter obsessed with a near-mythological buffalo herd he once glimpsed in the Rockies. But as the weeks and then months pass, Miller’s single-minded resolve to slaughter every buffalo in the enormous herd puts Will and the rest of the hunting party at risk of losing their sanity and their lives.

Polsky and Liam Satre-Meloy adapted the screenplay, with Jeremy Bobb (Russian Doll), Xander Berkeley (The Walking Dead), Rachel Keller (Fargo), and Oscar nominee Paul Raci (Sound of Metal) rounding out the cast. Polsky also produced alongside Amanda Bowers and Molly Conners of Phiphen, Will Clarke and Andy Mayson for Altitude Film Entertainment, and Cage’s Saturn Films. The executive producers are Richard J. Berthy and Jane Oster Sinisi. Jeri Rafter served as co-producer.

In the clip from Butcher’s Crossing, a menacing Miller explains that the campsite they’ve settled down on for the night is an Indian burial ground, and that the powder being sprinkled around it is “wolf poison.” Says the hunter with a grin, “I chose a sacred place to camp.”

“So we’re not the first to hunt this herd after all?” asks Will. Replies Miller, “Those Indians have been hunting this here buffalo for ages. But times are changing.”

Check the clip out at Deadline.